Too Busy Avoiding You
by WillowEchoRiver
Summary: After Voldemort's defeat, on top of the pain of losing family and friends, Ginny is faced with the pain of being avoided by someone she loves. Harry/Ginny. Don't worry. I love a good happy ending.
1. Chapter 1, Hello

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, :( I would be happy if I could be half the genius J.K. Rowling is... **

**Chapter One: Hello**

The summer months passed by in odd ways that year. It seemed as if everything ran in torturous slow motion, but sped along faster then a Quidditch player intent on catching a snitch. How these two fit together, Ginny would never know.

The excitement of Voldemort's defeat was visible at every turn in the road, and yet the pain that had come along with it was still there as well. Reminding her of her brother's death. The pain always felt like a sword had pierced into her inmost being...It always felt the same, a stab of searing pain in her chest, the inability to breath, the tearless sobs, and then the silent tears that wouldn't stop falling. She, tough, strong, confident, Ginny Weasley was so completely vulnerable in those moments, it was like she wasn't even her anymore.

But this was happening less and less often, and it felt like the world was finally starting to turn again, though it had never really stopped. It had just sped along without her.

It was early August, and in a month she would be returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, for her final year of education... Still, she couldn't help but feel frustrated at the thought of returning. She didn't belong in that place anymore. She didn't fit. Everything had changed too much over the past year, _she _had changed too much. Putting her back there would be like taking a piece of one puzzle and trying to force it into another one. It didn't fit, and the more you tried to make it, the harder it was to fix.

She knew her mother had been clinging to the hope that if Ginny returned to school, things might suddenly return to normal. But nothing would ever be the same again. Not for any of them. And Ginny knew that clinging to some small hope that Hogwarts might fix the mess they were in, was dead wrong. It was as dead wrong as all of her friends were dead. As Mad Eye was dead, as Collin Creevey was dead, as Lupin and Tonks were dead, as Fred was dead...As everyone was dead. As Harry's love for her was dead.

Everything, it seemed, was dead. Hope, love, joy...Because certainly, they could get through the days much easier then they had a month before, but there was never happiness in the days, there was only time.

And Ginny was believing less and less every day that thing people said about "Time healing everything."

Time hadn't healed her family, time hadn't healed the broken pieces of her life, time hadn't healed her relationship with Harry. Time had only made things worse. It had only left her broken in pieces, and so in love that it hurt to even breathe,

For the first week after Voldemort's death, Harry had been practically hiding from the world. And who could blame him? But Ginny missed him. The second week after the battle, Ginny had sought him out, tried to speak to him, tried to see him, but he was avoiding her like the plague.

If he'd only tell her why. If he'd only explain what had caused his feelings to change. If he'd only just _talk to her_...Even if they were harsh words. She would rather cruel words than silence. The silence was unbearable. She couldn't move on if she didn't know what she was moving on from. And after that second week, she just gave up.

He'd been making excuses to her mother about how he was busy helping clean up the mess at Hogwarts, and cleaning up Grimmauld place, and starting work as an Auror. And yet Ginny knew he couldn't possibly always be working when he said he was. Her father worked at the ministry...From him she knew what days he worked and what days he didn't. Hagrid still lived at Hogwarts...From him she knew when he was working there. Her mother followed every aspect of Harry's life that he would open up about...From her she learned what days he cleaned up his new home. And there were always missing days. Free days. Where she knew Harry couldn't be busy, because he would have Ron and Hermione over...But when mum asked him why he didn't come to dinner anymore, he'd give the 'I've just been so busy, Mrs. Weasley,' excuse.

Harry was even avoiding her mother. In fact, he seemed to have almost shunned the whole family, save Ron and Mr. Weasley (Who he saw on a day-to-day basis).

And it wasn't as if he was outright rude, of course he wasn't, he was Harry. He was just distant. Too distant...And way beyond anyone's reach, especially Ginny's.

Finally, on the first of August, Mrs. Weasley was making dinner when Ginny came downstairs into the kitchen. "Hey, mum, do you need help?" She offered,

Mrs. Weasley glanced up at Ginny, shook her head, and said enthusiastically, "No thank you, dear, go change. We're having company for dinner."

Trying not to be too insulted, Ginny glanced down at her over-sized t-shirt and worn jeans, and decided her mother was probably right, as she turned to go she called over her shoulder, "Who's coming?"

"Harry, dear, now hurry and change. Oh, and brush your hair!"

Ginny stopped in her tracks, turned to face her mother again, and folded her arms. She knew her mother's request for her to change was because of more then having company. Whenever Harry even made a brief appearance in the house Mrs. Weasley wanted Ginny to look nice. She seemed to be putting every effort into fixing any broken relationship between the two, but Ginny wanted nothing to do with this. She'd convinced herself she was furious at Harry, and maybe she was, but she was also very in love with him.

"I thought Harry was busy this week...Actually, I thought he was busy every week, to be honest." Ginny said, not bothering to conceal the bitterness in her voice.

"Hush, Ginny, he has important things to do."

"Of course he does, he always does. He's Harry Potter. He doesn't have time for people like us." Her words were harsh, but she was hurt.

Mrs. Weasley was always at Harry's defense when Ginny would make comments like this, "He's been through a lot, Ginevra!"

"Yeah? So have we, mum!" And she stormed off to change, only to please her mother. She didn't care what Harry thought. That's what she told herself, anyway.

When Ginny came downstairs, Ron, Harry, and Hermione had all arrived together. Ron still lived at home, so of course he'd come, and Hermione was always over for dinner these days, so mum hadn't even bothered to mention her presence, since it was just common knowledge she would be there. Harry was just the opposite. Ginny had half expected him to back out at the last minute.

Ginny entered the living room to see Mrs. Weasley giving Harry a hug and going on and on about how she needed to get some good food into him, and was telling him how worried she'd been he wouldn't know what to feed himself.

Ginny was grateful her mother was keeping Harry busy when she entered the room, feeling awkward about seeing him for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.

She examined his face while her mother kept him occupied. He looked tired, he was pale and had dark lines under his eyes. But he was smiling a smile that seemed so genuine as he spoke to her mother, that she couldn't help forget for just a moment that she was angry with him.

Perhaps he wasn't shunning them after all.

She stepped forward and said a quick hello to her brother, before giving a hug to Hermione. The girls exchanged some small talk, before Hermione leaned over and whispered in her ear, "You have to say 'hello' to him, Ginny."

Ginny glanced over at Harry and forced a casual voice as she said, "Hi, Harry." She said, before turning back to Hermione. She mouthed, 'happy?' to her,

She heard Harry mumble a hello.

"Mrs. Weasley, mind if Ginny and I talk until dinner?" Hermione asked, in a cheerful voice.

"Of course not, dear, go right ahead. I'll call you when dinner is ready."

"Thank you!" Hermione said, as she and Ginny hurried up the stairs into Ginny's bedroom, where Hermione had been staying with her for a couple of weeks now.

Hermione didn't waste a second, she pointed her wand at the door and said, "_Muffliato_," before starting to speak, "Ginny, you need to talk to him tonight. He misses you."

"Sure, he does, Hermione. And I miss Voldemort." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, Ginny! Don't be ridiculous!" Hermione sounded exasperated.

"I don't want to talk about Harry, right now!" Ginny said indignantly, "You're a good friend! And I know you mean well, but I don't want to talk about him!"

Hermione sighed, "If you would only give him a chance..."

"I've given him a thousand chances!"

"But you love him!" Hermione said, earnestly.

"He doesn't love me."

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but just then, Mrs. Weasley called that it was dinner time.

"We should go," Ginny said, hurrying out of the room.

**Author's Note: Well? There's chapter one! What do you think? I'm not sure how I feel about it to be honest, but I'm having fun writing...And that's what counts, right? Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2, Goodbye

**Disclaimer: Guess what! I still don't own Harry Potter...Sad day.**

**Author's Note: Sorry it took me forever to update. Here's chapter two!**

**Chapter Two: Goodbye,**

When Ginny and Hermione entered the kitchen, Hermione took the open seat beside Ron as was expected. What Ginny hadn't expected, though she reckoned she probably should have since it was obvious her mum had set it up this way, was that the only chair left open was right beside Harry.

She stood motionless for a moment, debating whether or not she wanted to sit down, when her mother broke into her thoughts by saying, "Hurry along, Ginny! We don't want to wait on you all night." Her mother's voice was light and cheerful, but Ginny knew she was serious as well, and that if she didn't sit down she would probably get in trouble for it later.

She slowly made her way around the table and sat in her seat without a word, As soon as Ginny was sitting at the table, Mrs. Weasley said, "Now, go on, Harry! Eat some pie, you look thin as a wand! Ginny, pass Harry the pie, please."

Ginny took the plate and passed it to Harry without a word, but she caught his eye for a moment and he said, "Thanks," but that was all, and both of them turned away from each other uncomfortably.

"So, Harry," Mr. Weasley said, cheerfully, "How's Auror training coming along?"

"Haha," Harry glanced at Ron and shook his head, "It's not coming along, actually."

"What? What do you mean?" Mrs. Weasley asked, in concern, "Arthur! Did they fire him?" She asked, turning to her husband.

"No, no, Mrs. Weasley!" Harry said, hurriedly. "I'm not fired...They're just...Making me go back to school." He explained,

"Isn't that something?" Ron asked, in amusement, "He kills You-Know - I mean, he kills Voldemort, and he still has to go back to school!"

"Well, now, that is something else, isn't it?...It may be a good idea though, you know, I keep telling Ginny that going back to school might make things go back to normal a little bit." Mrs. Weasley said, cheerfully.

"I'm not so sure anything will be normal back at school, to be honest, " Harry commented, his voice was mostly light-hearted, but there was a note of seriousness behind it.

"_Thank_ you." Ginny said, to express her agreement. "That's what I keep saying."

For just one moment, a single moment, Harry looked at her with a genuine smile. But then his smile flickered to a frown, and he turned away again.

Mrs. Weasley looked utterly pleased with even that small smile between the two of them, and hopped to her feet with pleasure saying, "Who would like me to go get dessert now, hmm?"

Not long after, Ginny excused herself from the table and went outside the house...She needed some time alone. She walked over to a tree at the far end of the front lawn, and climbed speedily up it's branches to a spot where she could sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.

It was odd to think of Harry returning to school, she wasn't sure she could handle a year at Hogwarts with him at the rate things were going now. She had a new kind of dread about returning. Things would be extremely uncomfortable, especially since now that Ginny was seventeen, and Harry was returning for his seventh year, they would be in the same classes every day. The idea of facing him for hours every day after being distant for so long was both horrifying and exciting. She missed him. Maybe this would help them at least become friends again. Even if he didn't love her. On the other hand, it could go terribly wrong, facing each other each day could very well make their relationship worse, if that was even possible.

Ginny's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the subject on her mind. Harry approached the bottom of the tree and stood there awkwardly for a few moments, without a single word.

When the silence became too unbearable, Ginny said, "Just decided to find a tree to stand under, eh?"

"Exactly, yeah." He said, he seemed to try to keep his voice light, but she could hear a discomfort in it as well.

"So, ready to explain?" Ginny asked, hopping down from the branch she had been sitting on to stand next to him.

"Explain what, exactly?" Harry asked, keeping his voice emotionless.

"Why you've been avoiding us."

"I don't know what you mean, I haven't been avoiding anyone. I've been busy." He answered defensively.

"If you didn't come to talk, why did you come, Harry?" She asked, frustrated.

"I don't know." And then he was gone, just like that.

Ginny stared after him in dismay. She shouldn't have even tried. She felt tears stinging in her eyes, but fought them back. She had to move on and accept the fact that things were different now. He just didn't love her, and he'd never love her again. It was time to give him up.

But how was she supposed to do that when they were going to be stuck at school together?


	3. Chapter 3, Another Year

**Author's Note: Sorry that it's been so long since I've updated...But I am totally in full Harry potter mood now because of the Deathly Hallows movie. which, by the way, was very good :) I feel they followed the book pretty well! On one hand, I'm really looking forward to Part Two, on the other hand...After that Harry Potter is just over, and that's just a sad thought :(**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter.**

**Chapter Three, Another Year**

Ginny hugged her mother and father goodbye, and waved at her brothers, before boarding the Hogwarts Express. It was the start of a new year, and as the train began to move, Ginny closed her eyes and pretended for a short time she was just a fifteen year old girl again. When the boy she loved was in love with her, and all her family and friends were still alive.

She understood her mother's hope that going back to Hogwarts would make things go back to normal, Ginny wished she could believe that herself...But no matter what they did, things would never, ever be the same.

Her eyes were closed as she blocked out the world around her, but not long after the train began to move, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Mind if I sit here, Ginny?" A dreamy voice said, and she looked up to see Luna standing there.

"Of course not! Go right ahead!" Ginny said, with a genuine smile. It was good to see her friend again, they hadn't spoken in a while. Both girls had been busy trying to recover from the war. "How are you, Luna?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Had a sickness spread by Crocodile-Tear Bird feathers for a while. But I'm fine now."

"Oh, well I'm glad you're well!" Ginny said with a smile, not at all phased by the oddness of Luna's statement.

"And how are you?" Luna asked, with a distant smile.

Ginny shrugged and kept up a small smile, "Oh..." She hesitated, "As good as could be expected."

"I heard Harry has come back this year, odd isn't it? Dad says the boy who killed Voldemort shouldn't have to go back to school to be an Auror." Luna said absently as usual.

"It is odd." Was Ginny's very short answer. When the subject went round to Harry, she was a little closed to conversation, but Luna didn't seem to notice.

"Have you seen him recently?" Luna asked curiously.

Ginny nodded, but their conversation was interrupted by the compartment door opening to reveal Harry himself.

Ginny froze as Harry asked, "Hey, can I sit here with you two? I don't really know many other people personally..."

"Oh, well..." Ginny hesitated, and then said quickly, "I'm sure everyone would love having _you_ in their compartment."

"You can certainly sit here, Harry!" Luna said, smiling.

"Thanks." He said, sitting down next to Luna with a friendly smile, before glancing at Ginny a little uncomfortably.

Ginny felt painfully the empty seat next to her, but she didn't say anything about it. Instead, she stared out the window as Harry engaged in conversation with Luna, so as to avoid having to have any particular conversation with Ginny. This did not go unnoticed to Ginny, but she didn't say anything.

Every once and a while, Luna would say something to Ginny and, in turn, Harry would be forced to as well, but for the most part he avoided speaking to the red headed girl.

She wanted to go back to being furious at Harry, but that was only easy to do when he wasn't around. When he was near her, it was absolutely impossible to stay angry at him, she could only feel sad.

When the train slowed to a stop, Ginny collected her things as quickly as possible and hurried from the compartment, leaving Luna and Harry standing there.

"She seems to be in a hurry..." Luna said, wonderingly, and smiling at Harry in a friendly way.

"In a hurry to get away from me..." He mumbled, almost inaudibly.

"What was that, Harry?" Luna asked, curiosity in her yet distant sounding voice.

"Nothing, come on." Harry forced a smile and headed off the train with the rest of the students, Luna following slowly behind.

When they stepped off the train, Harry was surprised to see two familiar faces waiting for him.

"Ron? Hermione? What are you two doing here?" Harry asked the two standing in front of him. He couldn't believe they were there.

"We thought if you had to go back to school, it was only fair we did too. Besides, we missed last year too." Hermione explained cheerfully.

"Actually, Hermione thought it would be a good idea and made me agree too." Ron mumbled, and Hermione smacked him in the arm.

"Don't listen to him, Harry!" Hermione said quickly, with a smile and a quick glare at Ron. "Now, where is Ginny?" She asked pointedly.

Harry shrugged, "How should I know?" He muttered, "Come on, we're going to be late."

**Author's Note: Okay, so I know that was an awful, short, chapter.** **But I was just stuck, so please forgive me! I hope the next will be better!**


	4. Chapter 4, The Other Girl

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter.**

Author's Note: Okay, so I feel absolutely awful about how long it took me to write this chapter. I'm really sorry. But I hope you find it worth the wait!

**Chapter Four, The Other Girl**

Ginny and Hermione sat together in the empty girls' dormitories one Saturday afternoon, others were outside enjoying the sunny day, but Hermione had entered the fifth year girls dormitory and found Ginny sitting there alone, looking out the window absently.

"I thought I might find you here." Hermione said as she entered the room.

Ginny jumped slightly, startled out of her thoughts as Hermione spoke, "Oh, hi, Hermione." She said, her voice rather toneless.

"You can't do this to yourself, Ginny." Hermione sighed, sitting down next to the red-headed girl.

"Do what to myself, exactly?" Ginny asked her, raising her eyebrows. "Sit alone and give myself some time to think?"

"Think about Harry?" Hermione asked, with a knowing look on her face.

"I wasn't even thinking about Harry, Hermione!" Ginny said, annoyed. That was a lie. She had been. But it wasn't like she spent every day crying over him. Sure, she'd been rather miserable lately, but most of that had nothing to do with Harry. Most of it had to do with the fact that being in the castle kept reminding her of the battle that had taken place there the year before, and all the loved ones she'd lost to it. But even with that, it wasn't like she was never happy. It was just that sometimes she preferred to be alone,

Hermione shook her head, "Ginny, you can't push everyone away. Things will never get better if you push everyone away."

"I'm not pushing everyone away! Is it so much to ask to want to be alone every once and a while?"

"I think you should talk to Harry." Hermione noted,

Ginny ran a hand down her tangled red hair, as if to calm her obvious frustration, "Are you just going to keep bringing Harry up? Because, for the record, that just kind of makes it worse!"

"He's been miserable, Ginny, cut him some slack. I think he needs you. And _for the record_," She copied Ginny's word choice, "I think you need him just as much."

Ginny didn't respond right away, instead she looked out the open window where she could see the lake and the surrounding areas. Ironically, Harry was sitting and talking cheerfully to a girl Ginny had seen him speaking to many times since they had arrived. She felt sick, suddenly, and she pulled the curtains closed quickly.

"He certainly doesn't _seem_ miserable. I think you might be wrong about him _needing_ me, Hermione." The anger had vanished from her voice, and instead what was left was just a sadness.

Hermione moved the curtain just enough to look out it and see what had caught Ginny's attention, she sighed and looked at the red head. "Listen, Ginny, he doesn't love Helen."

"Oh, her name is Helen? That's a pretty name."

"They're just friends, I promise he doesn't have feelings for her." Hermione told Ginny gently.

"And how can you be sure? He's spent an awful lot of time around her, lately, And he won't even speak to me!" Her voice shook slightly, and she took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. "I don't want to talk about him, Hermione. I waited forever for him to notice me, and honestly, I understand why he dumped me before. But I deserve some kind of explanation now..." She broke off.

Hermione looked on the verge of saying something, but she held her tongue, and instead of speaking, she put a sympathetic arm around her friend's shoulders, and didn't say a thing.

Ginny was walking down a crowded corridor later that evening, so she probably should have been watching where she was going. But instead, she just watched the ground in front of her and suddenly ran right into someone walking the other way. Ginny's homework fell to the ground along with several things that had been in the hands of the person she had run into.

Startled, she looked up to see two equally surprised people in front of her. The one she had run into was that girl, Helen, and the other was Harry.

"Sorry," Ginny mumbled, as she got on her knees to help the other two pick up the fallen books. She took her homework and then picked up one of the girl's books and handed it to her. She noticed the cover of it said simply _journal._

"Diaries can be bad for you, you know?" Ginny said, as her own private joke, though the memories that went along with it weren't exactly funny.

She glanced at Harry, who seemed to be avoiding her gaze.

The blond-haired girl just smiled, though she looked a little confused by Ginny's comment, "Oh! You're Ginny Weasley, right? The twins' sister? Your brothers were hilarious when they still came to school."

Ginny knew the girl was just trying to be friendly, but that didn't stop the color from draining from Ginny's face.

And suddenly, even though the girl meant no harm, Ginny couldn't stand her. "Yeah. They _were_ funny, weren't they?" Anger dripped from her voice, and all her buried emotions seemed to explode from her. "_Fred_ and George were hilarious, _weren't_ they Harry?"

"Ginny, she didn't know-" Harry said, uncomfortably. Ginny couldn't clearly read his expression though, as she usually could, because her thoughts were too clouded by her own feelings.

"Oh, you're speaking to me now?" She spat angrily.

People in the hallway were staring now.

Poor Helen seemed completely confused, and rather nervous, "What? I-"

"Fred died in the battle last year. Along with a lot of other people." Ginny glared at the girl.

The girl's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "I'm- I'm so sorry. I had no idea- I'm so, so sorry." She stuttered.

"Next time pay a little bit more attention!" Ginny yelled, she didn't mean to treat the girl horribly. But everything had seemed so wrong lately, and she'd tried to keep it hidden, but now everything was just coming apart.

Helen's eyes filled with tears, and Harry actually glared at her, "What's wrong with you? She didn't know Ginny!"

The words felt like daggers.

"Well, I'm sorry Harry! It's just a little hard having to deal with your brother's _death!_ And being abandoned by someone you used to think was your friend. Someone you used to think loved-" She broke off, and her voice quieted as she looked at Helen.

"Sorry, er, Helen. It wasn't your fault." Ginny managed to mumble in a much quieter voice then she had used before.

Then she brushed past Harry, her eyes brimming with tears.

If she had had any chance of making up with Harry before, she was sure that it was all over now.  
**  
Author's Note: Okay, the last thing I want is for this chapter to make you hate Ginny. Just cut her some slack, she's having a hard time! Also, I hope this chapter doesn't make you hate **_**me**_**. I'm sorry that it took me forever to update this story, and I hope this chapter was worth waiting for. The thing is that in December I was busy with celebrating the holidays (Christmas, New Year), and when I wasn't doing that I was, well, putting off writing this story. So yeah, there really is no excuse because I could have written it, and I should have, especially due to the Harry Potter movie and all that jazz, it would have been good for me to write earlier. But I didn't. And I'm sorry, please forgive me! **

**IMPORTANT (PLEAE READ): So, you have two options.** **Option number one, is that this could be a pretty short story, end in a couple chapters and be resolved much more quickly then otherwise. Option two is that the story goes on much longer, but takes longer to be resolved. I'm happy either way, so just let me know your opinion! Please Review and tell me!**


	5. Chapter 5, The Corridor

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I would not be writing fanfiction. I would be writing a book 8.**

Author's Note: It seems that the general consensus is that people hate me for this story. No, not really. But I am aware at how awful everything has been emotionally up to this point, and for those of you who stuck with me, I'm going to try to make it up to you.

**This chapter is from Harry's perspective.  
**  
**Chapter Five, The Corridor**

Harry had been coming to that corridor every day since school began. He didn't know why he put himself through this, but for some reason, he couldn't stop coming.

The corridor overwhelmed him with guilt and with grief, it made him feel ill to step foot in it.

Yet he kept returning. As if coming back here he could turn back time and stop what had happened in this very hallway.

No one usually came through this way during the day, because it wasn't really on the way to any classrooms and no one had need to pass through here. But Harry couldn't help but come.

He had no idea how long he had been standing there, when he heard a noise behind him. He turned, and saw a head of red hair. "Ginny." He swallowed, "What are you doing here?" He asked, the sick feeling in his stomach becoming even worse.

"Well, I'll leave then!" She said, looking equally surprised to see him.

She turned to go.

"No, wait, Ginny!" He called after her, urgently. "You don't have to go."

She looked at him with surprise written on her face, and then said, slowly, "What's the deal, Harry?"

He didn't answer right away, simply because he couldn't find the words. He'd had a big speech he'd planned to give Ginny at some point, but the words wouldn't come. And now he was stuck with everything feeling like it was going to overflow out of him if he didn't say _something_, just _something._

"This corridor...It's where Fred died." Harry told her, after a moment. His own voice surprised him, it sounded so numb and dull, when on the inside he felt a sharp pain of grief with every breath he took.  
**  
**Ginny's eyes seemed to cloud when she heard what Harry said. She looked around her and she seemed so sad and tired and hurt that all Harry wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and comfort her. But he couldn't.

"I don't understand..." Ginny said, after a very long silence.

Harry didn't know what she meant, and he didn't try to guess. He would wait for her to explain.

"After all the time I waited and waited for you. I thought things were finally going to get better. But now you have that new girlfriend and-"

"What?" He couldn't help but interrupt her. What did she mean, new girlfriend?

She looked at him with an obvious look of annoyance on her face. "Oh, please, Harry. You completely ignore me for months and then you get all friendly with some random girl I'd never even heard of before this year?"

"Helen?" Harry asked, incredulously. He might have laughed if the situation wasn't so awkward. "Ginny! She spends all her time talking about her boyfriend back home. She's not interested in me, and frankly, I couldn't look twice at her when I've had someone else on my mind constantly for months!"

"Oh, yeah? Who?" She demanded, hurt and anger filled her voice.

"You!" He said, frustration filling his voice. How could she be so blind?

Her voice softened, "What?" But her tone changed quickly to one of anger again, "Why didn't you _say_ something, Harry Potter! You big jerk!" And then she was pulling out her wand.

"Er, Ginny, calm down...please?" He asked, weakly.

But she didn't put her wand down. "You owe me an explanation, Potter."

Potter? She must have been really mad, Harry figured. "For what?" He asked, irritated. He didn't know what to say to make her happy.

"Why have you been avoiding me? If you 'couldn't stop thinking about me' why were you ignoring me all the time?" Her voice was full of anger, and her hand holding her wand towards Harry was trembling.

"Because I can't speak to you, knowing that everything you are going through right now is my fault!" Harry said in exasperation. "I can't look at you because it's my fault that your brother is dead, and that Lupin and Tonks are dead! It's my fault that _all of them_ are dead! It's my fault that you almost died! And I can't even face you because I can't forgive myself for it!"

Ginny lowered her wand, her eyes filled with surprise for a moment. "Harry..." She murmured. "You seriously believe that? None of that was your fault!" Her voice rose again, but there was a different tone to it this time, there was less anger in it. "That was _Voldemort's_ fault! It just so happened that you were the _only _one whose ever stood a chance against him, and anyone who fought to protect you Harry, weren't just doing it because they thought you were a swell guy. People protected you so that you could save us. So that you could kill Voldemort. It was never about you! It was about ending Voldemort! It was about the rest of the _world_ Harry, not you!"

"You never blamed me?" He asked, surprised. He felt a weight seem to lift from him. Not the weight of guilt, because he still felt the fault was his. But knowing Ginny didn't blame him was enough to lift his spirit considerably.

"Never!" She said earnestly, "Harry! Oh, Harry... None of this has ever been you're fault! I mean, there was even more that was my fault in all that happened then anything that was your fault!"

"What? Don't be ridiculous, how could any of it have been-" But he was interrupted.

"Riddle's diary?" She shook her head, "That was my fault. Voldemort almost returned two years sooner then he did because of me, Harry! That's a big deal."

"No one blamed you for that!"

"Ironic, isn't it?" She shook her head, "I couldn't look you in the eyes for _two_ years after that happened, and barely even after that! But that isn't the point, Harry, the point is that while you were fighting to save us, some of us were _actually _to blame! All you ever did was fight to save us all, and now you go blaming yourself. You silly, silly boy."

"What about the rest of your family? They probably hate me..." Harry began,

"Oh, please! Harry! Hasn't mum been constantly begging you to visit? Dad always talks about when he would see you at work. You know Ron isn't angry at you, because you've been speaking to him. And all my other brothers keep asking when they get to see you." Ginny sighed.

Harry felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of him, but even so he couldn't help but feel awful that all this time Ginny, and probably the rest of the Weasleys, had felt rejected simply because Harry was afraid they would reject _him._

"I'm sorry, Ginny..." He mumbled, his eyes downcast.

And then suddenly Ginny was flying across the corridor and she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "I've missed you, Harry Potter."

"You've know idea how much I've missed you..." He told her, holding her close, as if he was afraid she might disappear. "But from now on, I will be here."

"Good." She said, softly.

And Harry felt happier then he had felt in over a very long year.

**Author's Note: So, I hope you liked that chapter! There will probably be one or two more chapters in the story before it ends. But please review :) I hope that was a satisfactory chapter! Please let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6, Finally

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter. I mean, do I LOOK like J.K. Rowling to you? Wait...**

Author's Note: This is going to be the last chapter of this story, I hope you liked it! **This chapter is very short, to warn you.**

**Chapter Six, Finally**

The last few weeks had seemed like a dream. Like a mist covered the rougher details and all you could see were the smiles and the laughter and the joy surrounding it all.

Earlier that day, snow had begun falling from the sky in a way that a couple weeks ago might have been depressing, but now it was full of beauty.

Ginny closed her trunk that she had just finished filling with the things she would need over Christmas break. She grabbed the trunk's handle and lifted it onto it's wheels so that she could figure out how to drag it down the stairs. Then she scooped up Arnold the Pygmy Puff and set him on her shoulder. Glancing out the window, she saw that the snow was now covering much of the ground far below, and a smile appeared on her face.

She grinned and hurriedly pulled her trunk out of the girl's dormitory and down the stairs.

By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, Harry, Ron and Hermione were waiting for her.

"Oh, hi!" She said, a little surprised they were all standing there waiting for her.

"We could hear you dragging that trunk down the stairs from a mile away, Gin." Ron said, with an amused look on his face.

Ginny rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Right, okay. Shall we go?" She asked, taking Harry's hand, and smiling up on him.

The others nodded, and the four of them made their way out of the Common Room and down to the Entrance Hall where most of the students were already gathered to prepare for the walk into Hogsmeade to the train.

As they stepped outside into the sharp cold, Ginny grinned and scooped up a handful of snow and tossed it at the back of her brother's head, who was walking ahead with Hermione.

Ron halted suddenly and spun around, "Okay, which one of you was that?" He said, an amused glint in his eyes. He looked from Harry to Ginny expectantly.

"It was me, it was me." She admitted, with a grin. No way she was letting Harry get the credit for that shot.

"Why I oughtta!" Her brother grabbed a pile of snow and pressed it together, before pelting it towards Ginny.

Ginny jumped behind Harry and the snowball hit him square in the face. He then threw snowballs at both Ron and at Ginny, and then, just for kicks, at Hermione.

Soon, there was an all out snowball war. White flew through the air , every now and then making it's target on one of the four of them.

They were all laughing heartily, until Hermione said, while she smiled, "Come on, guys, we don't want to be late." She laughed, she took Ron's hand once more and they led the way.

Ginny looked at Harry and grinned, then they followed Ron and Hermione.

Not long after, they were all sitting in the train on their way home for Christmas break.

It wasn't as if everything was all the sudden perfect, there were still sad things in life. It would be a hard Christmas, the first one without Fred there. And it was going to hurt to have one brother missing, but at least the rest of them had each other.

To Ginny, there was still a lot of hurt to be dealt with. But a big portion of her hurt had ended when she and Harry had made up. And with him there, even the hard things didn't seem quite as awful.

Now they would go home and see the family and celebrate Christmas, and it would be almost like old times. Almost. Some things wouldn't be the same, hard things, like, Fred wouldn't be there. But good things too, like Ginny was with Harry, and Ron was with Hermione. And things didn't seem as grim as they had a few months before.

Now, they would go home, and there would be no more avoiding anyone. They would all be together.

And that was worth a lot.

**The End**


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